


tattoos with better stories

by Katiemcgrathisaseriesregular



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, this is what the kids call "fluff"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-07-05 00:05:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15852186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katiemcgrathisaseriesregular/pseuds/Katiemcgrathisaseriesregular
Summary: Lena asks Kara how she got the scar on her forehead.





	tattoos with better stories

“How did you get your scar?”

She asks the question one evening while they’re curled up on the couch in their apartment, a documentary they were both vaguely interested in playing quietly in the background, mostly forgotten due to the relaxed conversation that has been flowing freely for the past hour or so. The setting sun is peeking through the gaps in the lazily closed curtains and warming their skin while casting the room in a nice glow. Thirty-eight stories down, National City is its ever-busy self, but up in their penthouse they can almost feel like the only two for miles.

It’s a question that Lena has wanted to ask countless times, whether it was in the middle of a passion filled night, with their faces hair-widths apart, or when Lena would observe her girlfriend as she tried to solve a crossword puzzle, the incredibly cute furrow in her brow making the scar more noticeable. Every time her curiosity almost gets the best of her, though, she stops herself. Refrains from bringing up an event that had to have happened on a distant planet. After all, the hero’s skin is impenetrable on this world. 

Lena knows Kara’s heart isn’t quite as bulletproof. 

Today is the day she doesn’t hold the question in, because Kara has been opening up about her past a bit more lately. She’s been letting the CEO who knows a thing or two about building walls around herself delicately melt away the layers of steel in which Kara’s emotions are cast. 

Lena’s thumb brushes tenderly over the blemish on Kara’s forehead when she asks, and if it wasn’t for the light pressure of the finger and the weight of her girlfriend’s gaze, the question would have caused Kara to lose herself in hazy, red-tinted memories. 

“I fell while in my father’s lab,” she explains. Pauses. Lena thinks Kara may leave it at that when she continues, “I wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place.” It escapes as breathy, chuckled afterthought. She’s staring at a spot on the wall, as if trying to watch the memory play out in front of her eyes.

Lena lets her hand lower until her palm is resting against Kara’s cheek, but continues the caressing movement of her thumb. Eyes flitting over the blonde’s face, she waits for Kara to continue.

“I was little. Rao, I must have only been about six?” The corner of her mouth quirks up momentarily before dipping in the opposite direction, crinkle appearing between her brow “I didn’t understand why he was always spending so much time in there. He would miss dinner with my mother and I, and I felt lonely,” she sniffs “I suppose I was being sort of a brat, but I thought surely I was far more interesting than whatever he was doing in there.”

The grin is back on her face by the time she finishes the sentence and Lena’s heart clenches at the beauty of it. 

Kara turns her focus back on the dark-haired CEO tucked into her side. “I decided to sneak in one night while my parents were asleep. It wasn’t hard since he never kept the door locked.” She shrugs one shoulder, “I got in, tried climbed onto a chair to see what was on the bench, and fell and hit my head on the corner of the table.” She taps the spot on her forehead. Lena winces sympathetically and lets her hand drop as Kara continues. 

“I didn’t even care that I was bleeding- I was just terrified that I would get in trouble,” Kara laughs lightly before trailing off with a fond sigh, eyes returning to their spot on the wall. She’s silent for a while, mind following the memory.

“Did you?” It’s the first time that Lena has spoken since Kara had begun her story, hating that she’s breaking the contemplative silence, but eager to learn more about the woman who holds her heart. Her voice brings the blonde back into the present, turning to look at Lena. “Get in trouble,” she clarifies. 

Kara smiles at Lena, “No.” A chuckle. “He was actually incredibly happy that I was showing an interest in his work.” Her teeth are showing now, and it takes everything in Lena to let Kara finish the story and not kiss the radiant woman in front of her. “After he found me crying in his lab, he cleaned me up and promised me that he would show me everything in the morning.” Kara’s eyes glisten with the fond memory. “He made me his ‘official helper’ after that. I would spend evenings in the lab with him, after I finished my schoolwork. I probably distracted him more than I ever helped, but he would answer every question I asked.”

The smile she wears is so contagious that Lena can’t help but crack one of her own, imagining a tiny Kara with the same boundless energy asking millions of questions about the way her world worked. It makes her heart constrict in a way that isn’t at all uncomfortable. 

“Thank you for sharing that with me,” Lena whispers, afraid to break the bubble of fond reminiscing that has encased them. Kara leans forward to kiss her forehead, and when she pulls back, Lena can see the bittersweet pain in her eyes for the extinct planet. 

“Thank you for asking,” is her reply, slightly shaky, but still full of love. She tucks back into Lena, face going to her neck, nose nuzzling the soft skin that she loves to taste. A hand comes up to stroke the soft blonde hair, and they’re quiet for a moment. After contently breathing in the smell of her girlfriend-a scent that is just as much home to her as that lab on a red globe long gone- she voices her own question, “How did you get yours?”

Kara can feel more than hear the laugh as Lena replies, “Funnily enough, also in a lab.”

Kara sits up and gives Lena her best impression of the CEO’s signature raised eyebrow. “Oh? I can’t say I’m too surprised, but it sounds like there’s a story in there.”

Lena covers her face with her hand and peeks out at Kara through her fingers. “Can we pretend you didn’t ask?”

“Absolutely not!” Kara laughs, half-heartedly pulling at Lena’s hand, “This sounds good!”

With an over-dramatic sigh, Lena disentangles herself from her alien cuddle buddy and reaches forward to grab her glass off the coffee table in front of them. “There’s not much to it,” she says plainly, taking a sip of her water. She’s stalling, and when Kara just stares at her expectantly, she continues, “Jack and I got drunk one night and we dared each other to build a battle bot in two hours so we could fight them.” Lena can tell that Kara’s trying to remain impassive, so she presses on quickly, “I got mad because a part wasn’t detaching from the arm, so I threw it on the bench and _sure enough_ , the part comes right off and hits me in the face. Six stitches.” 

Lena concludes her story staring straight ahead, afraid to turn and look at her Kryptonian, because she knows what she’ll see if she does. She barely hears a squeak of _‘oh, Lena’_ and risks a glance to her right. Kara is red faced, hand over her mouth, vibrating with silent laughter. 

With a huff, Lena finishes her water and stands to bring her glass to the kitchen. She gets exactly one step away from the couch when a “no wait!” is exclaimed followed by hands grabbing her and pulling her into Kara’s lap. She hides her face in the blonde’s neck, embarrassed. 

“I’m sorry I laughed! It’s just…babe, it’s _so you_ ,” She’s still laughing, but is pulling herself together quickly, “I honestly can’t imagine you getting it from an accident on the playground or something ordinary.” She tries to look Lena in the eye, but Lena just cuddles in closer, mumbles something into her collar. “I didn’t understand anything you just said.”

Lena pulls back, “I _said_ , ‘I think it makes me look badass,’” she states before wrapping her arms around Kara’s neck. Kara’s arms go to her waist out of habit.

“It totally does,” Kara nods, before kissing her on the nose, “wouldn’t want to cross you in a dark alley.” Her lopsided grin makes it obvious that she’s teasing.

Rolling her eyes, Lena doesn’t fight the fact that the conversation has taken a turn to her being the butt of the joke if it means her love is smiling like she is now. The trace of sadness that comes with talking about her home planet has dimmed considerably, but it hasn’t fully left the alien’s eyes.

Lena knows it never will.

The burden of sorrow that Kara carries is one she hopes to lighten each day that they spend together, and she’d tell a million embarrassing stories if that is what it took to make her beautiful, broken goddess whole again.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first work ever, so hopefully it didn't waste your time, and I'm sorry for any mistakes!  
> The title comes from "Scars are Tattoos with Better Stories", which is a song by Fear Like Us, but also possibly a quote before that.  
> You can find me on tumblr as katiemcgrathisaseriesregular, sometimes I'm funny.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
